Kemi Badenoch swipes at 'completely ridiculous' Lord Hermer amid row over Muslim prayer event: 'We will not be intimidated!'

Expressing his criticism of event, Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy called the mass prayer an act of "domination", sparking a spat during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday and calls from Sir Keir Starmer for the Tory to be "sacked".

After defending Mr Timothy's remarks, Mrs Badenoch was then challenged by Lord Hermer, who is Jewish, asking for them both to clarify if they would "object to a Jewish prayer event taking place in public".

Responding to Lord Hermer's challenge, Mrs Badenoch hit out at the Attorney General and declared him a "completely ridiculous man".

Mrs Badenoch told the People's Channel: "Hermer is a completely ridiculous man. Let's not forget that when we stripped Shamima Begum of her citizenship, this was the man who was defending her – an ISIS bride that was cheering the killing and murder of so many people in the Middle East. It's just shocking.

"And why is he doing this? Because they're trying to distract from the mess that they are making of the country.

"This man is the man who is behind us giving away the Chagos Islands, a strategic defence base, and paying £35billion for the privilege at a time when we have a cost of living crisis. He is not somebody that anybody should be listening to."

Questioned by host Martin Daubney for her reaction to Lord Hermer comparing her to "Tommy Robinson", Mrs Badenoch stated: "I don't really care what the Attorney General thinks because as I said, he's a ridiculous man.

"And if he's attacking me, then that probably means that I'm definitely on the right side."

Defending Mr Timothy's criticism of the Open Iftar event, the Tory leader made clear her issue is with the "segregation of men and women" at the event, which "as a woman myself, I do not agree with".

She explained: "Let's be very, very clear, what Nick Timothy was saying, and I do agree with him, is that that event was segregated. It was not the sort of event that I think should have been happening in Trafalgar Square.

"Yes, of course people can pray, people of all religions should be able to pray, but the way that event was done was not something that I think should be the case. They're claiming that we're causing division by pointing out that the event was gender segregated, and as a woman, I don't like that."

Reflecting on Sir Keir's call for Mr Timothy to be "sacked" by Mrs Badenoch, Martin argued the minister should be "allowed to criticise a religion without being demanded to be fired by the Prime Minister".

Agreeing with Martin, the Tory leader said: "Thank you, you've made an excellent point.

"Labour are trying to bring in an Islamophobia definition that will make criticism like this illegal. They don't want anyone pointing out these sorts of things and saying, oh, actually, I don't think that this is appropriate. This is a country where we have freedom of religion, but we also have freedom of speech, and they can coexist."

She added: "The fact that he's saying he should be sacked, this is a desperate attempt by Keir Starmer to curry favour with his backbenchers. He is afraid they're going to kick him out and he's doing everything that they that they're asking him to."

Remaining defiant against Lord Hermer and Sir Keir, Mrs Badenoch told GB News that she will "stand by" Mr Timothy and he will "not be intimidated" by anyone.

She concluded: "Nick Timothy is a fantastic shadow justice secretary - he's much better than the last shadow justice secretary that I had - and he is very thoughtful.

"He's very smart, he's not going to be intimidated, and I will stand by him. We're not intimidated by any of their scare tactics and scaremongering. We will fight back and make sure that we are defending the values of this country, that is what the Conservative Party under my leadership is about. Nick Timothy is doing a great job and I will stand by him."

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